Step One in Crisis: Listen and Let God Speak
“It was the first year of the reign of Darius the Mede, the son of Ahasuerus, who became king of the Babylonians. During the first year of his reign, I, Daniel, learned from reading the word of the LORD, as revealed to Jeremiah the prophet, that Jerusalem must lie desolate for seventy years” (Daniel 9:1-2 NLT).
Prayer is the key to enduring any crisis.
We can learn a lot from Daniel and his prayer life. As an old man when the time came closer for the Israelites to return to their homeland, Daniel knew his people were not ready. The Israelites still did not have a right relationship with God. This grieved Daniel, so he prayed.
His prayer in Daniel 9 provides six important pieces about how to pray in a way that God answers during a crisis. We’ll look at each of these six steps over the next few days.
First, you let God speak to you before you speak to him.
You need to hear the voice of God. He will always make the first move in your life. He never expects you to do something he doesn’t do first. The Bible says we love God because he first loved us. We serve him because he first served us.
God initiates. Then, we respond.
So how do you listen to God? You read the Bible. We talk to God because he first talked with us through his Word.
Daniel did this: “It was the first year of the reign of Darius the Mede, the son of Ahasuerus, who became king of the Babylonians. During the first year of his reign, I, Daniel, learned from reading the word of the LORD, as revealed to Jeremiah the prophet, that Jerusalem must lie desolate for seventy years” (Daniel 9:1-2 NLT).
You will never pray effectively until you study Scripture and listen to God. The more you know the Bible, the more effective your prayers will be.
You will never pray effectively until you study Scripture and listen to God. The more you know the Bible, the more effective your prayers will be.
Step Two in Crisis: Focus and Seek God
“I love those who love me, and those who seek me will find me” (Proverbs 8:17 ISV).
Daniel gives us a great blueprint for prayer during difficult times.
We can find six important principles for this in Daniel 9. In the last devotional, we looked at the first of those principles: We let God speak to us before we speak to him.
The second step to praying in a way God will answer during a time of crisis is to focus our attention on God and seek him.
Daniel did this in Daniel 9:3: “I turned my face to the Lord God, seeking him” (ESV).
This is basic relationship advice that works beyond your relationship with God. You’ll improve any relationship in your life if you physically turn yourself toward the other person and focus on them when they talk to you. Whenever my wife talks with me, I turn my face toward her. I’ve been married for more than 40 years. She loves it because she knows she has my undivided attention.
Turning your face toward someone shows attention. You can do with this God, too. Physically, look up toward the sky. If you can, go outside and look into the heavens as you pray.
Physically turning toward God is the first step in truly focusing on him and seeking him, which is vitally important during a crisis—and every other moment of our lives.
In Amos 5:4, God says, “Seek me and live” (NIV). You’re not really living unless you’re truly seeking God.
God guarantees he will always be with you. He says, “I love those who love me, and those who seek me will find me” (Proverbs 8:17 ISV).
“I poured out my heart, baring my soul to GOD” (Daniel 9:3 The Message).
Over the last few devotionals, we’ve been looking at how Daniel prayed during a time of crisis in his life and the life of Israel. His response shows us how we can pray in a way that God answers.
So far we’ve learned that we must let God speak to us before we speak to him and focus our attention on God and seek him.
Then, we must express our desires with passion.
Too many of our prayers are simply cut and dried. We speak without really thinking about what we’re saying. We have the words memorized. There’s no passion or authenticity.
The truth is, God cares more about the passionate sincerity of your prayers than the words you use. Think about how the right words with the wrong emotions won’t work with your spouse. That won’t work with God, either.
Human beings are made in the image of God. He shows emotions. He gets angry. He gets sad. He gets happy.
God doesn’t just love you. God loves you passionately—emotionally.
Daniel described his passionate prayer in Daniel 9:3: “I prayed earnestly to the Lord God, pleading with him” (GNT).
The word “pleading” in Hebrew means to “ask with emotions.” It’s a serious seeking. It’s searching with all your heart. It’s begging.
That’s a prayer God will listen to and answer.
I love this paraphrase of Daniel 9:3: “I poured out my heart, baring my soul to GOD” (The Message).
Step Four in Crisis: Show God You’re Serious
“As I prayed, I fasted and wore rough sackcloth, and I sprinkled myself with ashes” (Daniel 9:3 TLB).
Daniel’s prayer in Daniel 9 provides us with a great model for how to pray during a crisis. In the last few devotions, we’ve learned from this passage to let God speak to us before we speak to him. Then, we focus our attention on God and seek him. And, we express our desires with emotions.
Next, the kind of prayer God answers during a crisis is one where we demonstrate our seriousness. You need to signal to God that you are determined about your need. It isn’t just a whim or a casual thought. You need to let God see how important it is to you.
Daniel described three different ways he signaled his seriousness to God: “To show my sadness, I fasted, put on rough cloth, and sat in ashes” (Daniel 9:3 NCV).
We’re going to focus on the first thing he did: He fasted from food. Fasting is a spiritual discipline that people have employed for centuries.
Jesus said some miracles could only happen through prayer and fasting, not by prayer alone. Why? Fasting tells God you’re serious about your prayer.
Moses fasted before he received the Ten Commandments. The Israelites fasted before they went into many of their major battles. Daniel fasted in order to receive guidance from God. Nehemiah fasted before he began a major building project. Jesus fasted in victory over temptation.
Fasting doesn’t have to be related to food. It’s about removing other things from your life so you can focus on prayer.
“O Lord, you are a great and awesome God! You always fulfill your covenant and keep your promises of unfailing love to those who love you and obey your commands” (Daniel 9:4 NLT).
There is nothing more important you can do during a crisis than pray. As we’ve been learning, Daniel 9 gives us a great pattern for prayer as we walk through life’s toughest times.
We’ve already learned to let God speak to us before we speak to him, focus our attention on God and seek him, express our desires with passion, and demonstrate our seriousness.
We must also thank God for his love and promises.
Daniel describes this in Daniel 9:4: “O Lord, you are a great and awesome God! You always fulfill your covenant and keep your promises of unfailing love to those who love you and obey your commands” (NLT).
This may be the last thing you want to do during a crisis. You may be angry with God and frustrated with him. But that’s why you need to do this. You need a change in your perspective.
A few verses later, we read this: “The Lord our God is merciful and forgiving, even though we have rebelled against him” (Daniel 9:9 NLT).
We should be grateful that God is faithful even when we’re not. God keeps his promises every time.
And God will continue keeping them in your crisis. He won’t abandon you. Show God you realize that. Let him know you trust him.
Step Six in Crisis: Humbly Confess Your Sin to God
“We have sinned and done wrong. We have rebelled against you and scorned your commands and regulations. We have refused to listen to your servants the prophets, who spoke on your authority to our kings and princes and ancestors and to all the people of the land” (Daniel 9:5-6 NLT).
In the last few days we’ve looked at how to pray during a crisis. Daniel shows us six key principles during his prayer in Daniel 9. The first five of these principles are:
Let God speak to us before we speak to him.
Focus our attention on God and seek him.
Express our desires with passion
Demonstrate our seriousness.
Thank God for his love and promises.
Finally, we need to humbly confess our sin.
God won’t listen to prideful complaining, but he will listen to humble confessing. God responds to humility.
God already knows every foolish thing you’ve ever done in your life, but he still wants you to confess your sin.
How does God respond when you humbly admit you blew it? He responds with forgiveness, mercy, and grace.
Confessing simply means agreeing with God about your sin. You tell God he is right—what you did was sin. You don’t make excuses. You don’t call it a mistake. You admit that you were wrong.
Get specific with your confession like Daniel did in Daniel 9:5-6: “We have sinned and done wrong. We have rebelled against you and scorned your commands and regulations. We have refused to listen to your servants the prophets, who spoke on your authority to our kings and princes and ancestors and to all the people of the land” (NLT).